IIT Madras Research Suggests "Indomethacin" for Mild Covid Patients

New Delhi: IIT Madras has conducted a research which suggests that Indomethacin, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is efficient and effective in the treatment of mild and moderate COVID-19 patients. 

The research study of IIT Madras has been published in the premiere peer-reviewed journal, Nature Scientific Reports. 

Conducted at Panimalar Medical College and Research Institute, the study was led by Dr. Rajan Ravichandran, an Adjunct Faculty at IIT Madras and Director of Nephrology at MIOT hospitals, and conceptualised and coordinated by Prof. R. Krishna Kumar, Institute professor, IIT Madras.

According to the researchers team, their study promises a new dimension to Covid-19 mild infection as Indomethacin is an affordable drug. With over 20 lakh prescriptions every year in the US, Indomethacin is an established drug widely used since the 1960s to treat various types of inflammations. 

However, these Indian scientists are the first to show the efficacy of indomethacin through a randomised clinical trial. Although, the scientific basis has been researched by Italian and US scientists.

Addressing the press conference regarding the research study, Dr. Rajan Ravichandran an Adjunct Faculty at IIT Madras and Director of Nephrology at MIOT Hospitals, said that inflammations and the cytokine storm are one of the deadly effects of covid-19 infection, as a result, the researchers planned to study the non‐steroidal anti‐inflammatory drug, Indomethacin. 

He said that the scientific evidence strongly illustrates the antiviral action against Coronavirus and that Indomethacin is a safe and well-understood drug, which he had been using in his profession for over 30 years. 

Further, he added that Indomethacin works with all variants. Two trials were conducted during the first wave and second wave, for which the results were the same. He hoped that ICMR would consider this study and include Indomethacin in the treatment of covid-19 protocol. 

According to one of the Researchers, Prof R Krishna Kumar, IIT Madras, out of a total of 210 admitted patients, 107 were randomly allocated to a control group, treated with paracetamol and standard care of treatment, while the remaining 103 patients were administered indomethacin along with standard care of treatment. 

He said that these patients were monitored regularly for symptoms such as cough, cold, fever, and muscle pain along with oxygen saturation. However, none of the 103 patients who received indomethacin developed oxygen desaturation. 

While 20 of the 109 patients from the control group were desaturated with oxygen saturation levels below 93 percent. During the research study, the patients who were treated with Indomethacin recovered from all symptoms in three to four days while it took double the time for those patients from the control who didn’t take the drug, he added. 

Meanwhile, the scientists also informed that there was no adverse effect on Liver and kidney function tests. However, during the follow-up examination on 14th day, it was found that nearly half of the control group patients had several discomforts while a few indomethacin patients complained only of tiredness.

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